hilomike wrote:
dangle, thanks for the thoroughly detailed description of the suit! I'm 6'0", 158lbs and am deciding between a S and M. I am thinking of going with the S for a tight fit. IMFL will be my first IM distance. I plan to wear this under a full wetsuit, and then put on cycling shorts for the ride.
Did you wear the top under the wetsuit or have it rolled down? If it was up, how did the shoulders/armpits feel under the wetsuit? If you had it rolled down, did you have any issues rolling it up in T1?
Also, how is the chamois seam? You mentioned it isn't a problem for running. I have a PI Attack tri short. Is it similar to that?
Thanks!
No idea what to tell you for sizing. Sorry. I'm still holding to the idea of chest measurement being important. If you are between sizes, go smaller. Your chest is smaller when in the aero position and you can unzip it for the swim and run. There's no way that I would ever roll it down for a wetsuit swim because I would have nothing but issues getting it back up. I'm not new to one piece suits and this has been the hardest one to get on. I have no idea how people do it wet without help from somebody else or tearing the suit. It's really lightweight fabric. FWIW, I probably have much bigger arms and shoulders than you though. We're about the same height and I'm 30+lbs heavier at ~10% BF.
Why would you wear this for the swim and then put cycling shorts on after? Maybe that's a typo...
Comparing the resistance of shoulder movement between a wetsuit and the Octane is like comparing a puddle to a lake. Maybe you will notice some shoulder resistance with the Octane alone, but you shouldn't notice further resistance while wearing a wetsuit.
Enough with the arm/shoulder wrinkle stuff. The feeling of being choked to death while swimming or running isn't worth the 0.5 watts of drag on the bike.
I'm a big fan of the cost/quality ratio of that PI Attack short. The Attack chamois is more of a fleece material and I don't know if I have ever gotten it wet before. The pad in the Octane is different. Maybe slightly less padding, but it dries well and runs just fine. It feels like there is "less" down there than the Attack. Maybe the Attack chamois is slightly more loose and can bunch up a little?
One final note, I would probably unzip the suit for the swim and try to pull the neck down a little. The higher neck of the Octane combined with a wetsuit can cause major rubbing no matter what skin prep you use. I used it zipped up for a 1.2 swim and tore up my neck pretty well. Zip it for the bike and unzip for the run.
